


All Too Short a Date

by quilleth



Series: Tea for Two [2]
Category: Seven Kingdoms: The Princess Problem (Visual Novel)
Genre: F/M, Just Spit it out already, Last Minute Confessions, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:14:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23658187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quilleth/pseuds/quilleth
Summary: Leaving day has arrived, but Elisabeth finds she's not willing to return home afterall
Relationships: Jasper/Jiyel Scholar
Series: Tea for Two [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1272416
Comments: 4
Kudos: 2





	All Too Short a Date

**Author's Note:**

> This was written as part of the fyeah 7kpp daily prompts over on tumblr! This is for the prompt for Day Two: Soar  
> I likely won't get through all 31, so I'll be posting some of the longer ones separately, and then I'll bundle the shorter ones into a chaptered work along with some of my other ficlets from tumblr that I've been meaning to post here as well.

Leaving day dawned bright and sunny, a sign many of the more superstitious delegates took as a good portent for the future of the alliances and arrangements so recently made and settled. Elisabeth stood near the docks, shading her eyes against the sun’s brilliance as people bustled around, saying farewells, boarding various ships, losing and finding and stowing baggage. Quietly watching her fellow delegates preparing to return to their former homes or leaving to their new homes, she felt underwhelmed by it all.

Seven weeks was, all things considered, a fairly short period of time, but the enormity of the Summit and its importance made it seem much longer. And yet, here she was, in readiness to return to Jiyel, still unmarried, with nothing to show for her time there. She could hear her mother’s comments and her sister’s exasperated sighs already. _Oh Lizzie dear, surely there must have been someone?_ Or _Honestly Lizzie, with such a fortuitous opportunity I am surprised at you not making better use of it all. Mother and Father won’t be around forever you know._ She could feel herself already diminishing to fit into her old circumstances and groaned.

Chest tight at the thought, she shook her head, muttering, “I cannot do this. I simply can’t!” Heart fluttering, hands shaking, she pulled one of her hair sticks out of her coiffure and tucked it into her pocket before she hurried over to one of the sailors of the Jiyeli ship and gave them a bright smile. “Hello! I am sorry to bother you, but do you happen to know how long it will be until we set sail?”

The sailor set down the luggage they were carrying and eyed her warily. “That eager to be gone already, miss?” they asked, thoroughly unimpressed or uncaring.

“Oh no! It’s simply that,” Elisabeth laughed,a little nervously, “Well I believe I may have lost one of my hair sticks, you see, while I was packing earlier, and I was hoping I would have time enough to go back and look for it.”

Eyebrows creeping even higher the sailor just refrained from rolling their eyes and replied, “Couldn’t they send it to you after they find it? The tides don’t wait for trinkets.”

“If it were anything else, I’d gladly follow that logic, but this one is special to me. I would really hate to leave without it!” Any guilt she might have otherwise felt for lying dissipated at the sailor’s rudeness and dirty look. Really, she just needed a little bit of _time_ ; it wasn’t too much to ask for.

“Listen, lady. ‘S not really up to me, and I’m not about to put my neck on the block for a carelessly lost frippery.”

“Oh! But I don’t need that much time! Surely—”

“Is something the matter?” someone asked from behind Elisabeth.

“Oh! Hello Duke Lyon!” Elisabeth said turning.

“Duke?” the sailor said, straightening slightly.

“You seemed agitated. Are you well, Lady Elisabeth?” Lyon repeated, ignoring the sailor.

“Yes, I’m fine. Only I may have lost one of my hair sticks, and I was asking if there would be time for me to go look for it. I wouldn’t bother normally, just—this set is from Noah, you know, and with him going away to Hise…” Elisabeth trailed off, feeling wretched for trying to deceive a friend.

Lyon raised his eyebrows at her before addressing the sailor, “Surely a small delay can be arranged. The tide will not affect departure for quite some time.”

“I-uh-the captain would have to arrange that, my lord, I can’t!”

“Then perhaps you can take me to speak with the captain to explain the situation while the lady goes to—”

“Look for my hair stick! Oh thank you, Lyon! What a splendid idea!” Without waiting for a response from either person, Elisabeth dashed off towards the castle, voluminous skirts caught up in her hands far higher than was either ladylike or proper.

She did not get far before Noah hailed her, “Lizzie what’s wrong? Where are you off to in such a rush?”

“Lost a hair stick, must go and find it! Lyon was kind enough to talk to the ship captain about delaying departure while I go and look for it, so I really mustn’t dawdle!” she replied, slowing her pace only slightly.

“Do you want some help?”

“No! No, that’s alright. I can manage. Do try not to leave before I can come say goodbye to you!” she said, smiling before continuing her retreat.

Noah frowned after her. “Well that’s deuced odd. I could have sworn she was wearing both of her hair sticks when we came out,” he said, looking up as Hamin joined him.

“Noah my love, for such a clever man you can be remarkably dense when it comes to your sister you know. D’you really think she’s looking for a _hair stick_ back there?” Hamin said, wrapping an arm about his waist. “Still, what do you say we try to help with that delay and try convincing them to move her luggage off that ship and onto the Blackwater?”

“Not dense, merely concerned,” Noah replied scowling. “And I hardly think she’ll like us meddling in her affairs, let alone her luggage. But,” he paused, eying the Jiyeli ship with dislike, “A little reorganizing could certainly give her more time to get things sorted, I suppose. And she _would_ like Hise, I am certain.” With a grin he led Hamin toward the ship and shouted to the sailors loading luggage, “Ho there, friend! We need the belongings for Lady Elisabeth unloaded, if you please. There’s been some change of plans.”

Lyon stared at him shaking his head. “I thought she was just going to…look for a hair stick.”

Hamin grinned at him. “Maybe, but as her brothers,” he winked at Noah, making Lyon roll his eyes, “we should be the ones to deliver her to her destination.”

All the sailors looked at the one still engaged in conversation with Lyon, apparently deciding by some unspoken agreement that they should speak for the crew as a whole. They blanched at the attention and stammered out, “The captain gave the orders. All luggage to be stowed. I didn’t hear ‘bout any changes!”

Hamin’s grin widened. “In that case, as captain of the Blackwater, I could request a parlay with your captain to discuss it all.”

“That seems a little excessive. We could just wait for Elisabeth to return and explain what she wants done,” Lyon suggested, sensing trouble.

“Nope! We want the parlay!” Noah replied. “Ooh, that’s fun to say, is it not?”

Meddlesome sibling, luggage, and impending departures left behind and not in her immediate concerns, Elisabeth hurried as fast as she could manage in formal traveling dress without running. When she burst into the castle several minutes later, flushed, out of breath, and beginning to doubt her course of action, she came across Sayra in the parlor, and exclaimed, “Oh Sayra! Thank goodness!”

Confusion and apprehension crossed Sayra’s features as she asked, “Elisabeth are you alright?”

Elisabeth laughed breathlessly, “Oh yes, yes quite. Only,” she blushed, “I was wondering where I might find Jasper.”

“Ah,” Sayra said with a knowing smile, “follow me.” Leaving off her task, she led Elisabeth along several corridors, pausing near a hall where some of the senior staff members had private offices. She looked Elisabeth over with an assessing gaze, and, apparently unimpressed with what she saw, asked, “Where is your other hair stick?”

Nonplussed, Elisabeth replied, “In my pocket, why?”

Sayra sighed in exasperation. “Do you really think it will go well if you show up looking so disheveled?” She removed the hair stick left clinging to its tenuous hold in Elisabeth’s hair and began combing some of the tangles out with her fingers.

“I hadn’t thought of that,” Elisabeth replied sheepishly. Of course showing up like she’d gone on a mad dash across the grounds would concern Jasper. At a prompting noise and imperious gesture from Sayra, she fished her other hair stick out of her pocket and handed it to her. “You don’t have to do that, you know. I can manage.”

Sayra chuckled, “Yes I know, but given your state I think I ought.” She tucked the stick into place and brushed some leaves from Elisabeth’s sleeves before standing in front to survey her again. “Hmmm, not the most flattering outfit, and not enough time to make many adjustments, but it’ll do I suppose.”

Elisabeth laughed. “Goodness, Sayra! I hate to think what you’d say if I didn’t meet your approval at all!” She ruined the lighthearted moment by picking at her sleeves.

“I’d simply tell you you were a mess beyond my help and that you ought to find Ria for help instead,” Sayra teased. She made a few adjustments to Elisabeth’s outfit—a few tugs here, fluffing sleeves or skirts there— and stood back, smiling with some satisfaction. “There. Presentable at least. You won’t cause any undue alarm now. This way,” she said, taking off down the hall again.

Meekly, Elisabeth followed her. “Thank you, Sayra.” With her stomach churning, she tried to find a way to wipe her suddenly clammy palms against her skirts without ruining Sayra’s adjustments.

Sayra finally stopped outside an unassuming door like all the others near the end of the hall and smiled. “No need to thank me. Friends help each other; is that not what you always say?” Then, before Elisabeth could reply, she knocked on the door and vanished down the hall back the way she had come, leaving Elisabeth with a cheery, “Good luck!”

Without time to reply or gather her wits about her, Elisabeth was left fumbling as the door opened before her.

“Yes? Who—Elisabeth?” Jasper stared at her with open shock for a moment before his usual facade of butlery stoicism fell into place. “Is everything alright? Why are you not at the docks?”

Resolutely focused on a spot at least a foot off where Jasper was standing, Elisabeth took a deep breath and stammered, “Hello, I, yes everything is fine. I simply wanted, that is, you see—” She shook her head, took a deep breath, and began again, “Forgive my forwardness, but, please, let us talk. In private? Before I lose my courage.”

Jasper huffed out a laugh, standing back in the doorway, “Lose courage? You? I admit I can’t picture what could possibly create that effect.”

“We all have our limits, Jasper, even me.” Elisabeth replied as she crossed the threshold, trying to keep her voice steady, still keeping her gaze focused on the ground ahead of her, certain that she would lose her courage entirely otherwise. “I wished to know—that is—” _Blast!_ Why was such a seemingly simple question so difficult to ask? Maybe she should just give up, return to Jiyel, and become her old spinster self for the next forty or fifty years. Perhaps by then she’d have figured out a way to ask what she dearly wished to know that didn’t leave her feeling more vulnerable than she ever had.

Standing in the same room with Jasper, the courage she had thought might fail her began to steady, and she squared her shoulders and leveled a determined— if nervous— gaze on the man standing in front of her. All thoughts left her and she blurted, “You aren’t wearing a jacket!” She had known, of course, as she followed Sayra that they were heading towards his private quarters, but it hadn’t quite clicked until this moment, seeing Jasper out of his typical uniform. “Oh goodness and this must be your study! I must be disturbing you! I am so sorry. I don’t- don’t quite know _what_ I was thinking. So presumptuous, and forgive me, I should go!” She stumbled back a few steps, face burning, and blindly reached for the door handle.

“Wait! Please, tell me what you wanted to speak about,” Jasper said softly, catching her hand in his; he wasn’t wearing gloves either.

“I would, if I’d had half a plan at all in coming here, but I didn’t, and I don’t know how to—and I just, I couldn’t leave. I just couldn’t, and I—!” Elisabeth could feel tears threatening to spill over, overwhelmed and feeling foolish and out of place, but wanting so very badly to belong, right where she was.

“Are—are you saying…you wish to stay?” Jasper asked, something in his chest fluttering with hope.

Elisabeth looked up at him with wide, watery eyes. “Would you want me to?”

“Do you truly need to ask?” he replied, smiling softly down at her.

She tried to take her hand back. “Yes! You never mentioned anything about it! And I couldn’t presume, and I swore not to disrupt your work, but—! Why are you looking at me like that?”

“My work could never mean as much to me as you have come to mean.” Jasper said, taking hold of her other hand, for once not worrying about propriety or his vows. “The time I have been honored to spend with you here has been quite precious to me.”

Elisabeth, her own heart starting to flutter its wings, asked, “But then, why did you not say anything?”

“How could I? What we have is on such tenuous grounds simply by nature of our positions, but more than that, how could I ask you to give up everything dear to you? It would be unconscionably selfish and unfair to ask that of you.”

“Don’t you think I could decide that for myself?”

“I know for a fact that you are quite capable of forming your own opinions and making them known,” he said fondly. “But I am as well, and it would still be unfair of me to expect anything of you, let alone that you not return home.”

Elisabeth made a noise that was part laugh part sob. “We are quite terrible at this, aren’t we?”

“I don’t know if I would go so far as all that. Though it does appear that we are quite good at working at cross purposes.” Jasper released her hands and wiped a tear away from her cheeks with his thumb. “Why are you crying?”

“I don’t know!” she laughed, more tears spilling over.

He laughed brushing away the tears as they fell, “Whatever am I going to do with you, dearest Elisabeth?”

“Well,” she replied, beginning to feel more than a little giddy, “You never did answer my question.”

Still cupping her face in his hands, smiling down at her, he was certain, like a besotted fool, Jasper replied, “Which question was that?”

“Do you want me to stay?”

“Of course I do, but do you truly wish to stay?” he asked, brows furrowed slightly.

Her heart soaring, she answered, “Yes. Yes I want to stay! With you.” She laughed a little, soggy sound despite the smile growing on her face.

Jasper laughed again, feeling a weight lifted from his shoulders. “I did not expect today to go like this at all, but I am glad that it did.”

“So am I,” she replied, boldly resting her hands on his chest.

“May I kiss you?”

“Please!” The response earned a soft huff of laughter before Jasper pressed his lips lightly to hers.

Elisabeth had just tugged lightly at his waistcoat in an effort to bring him closer when they were both startled by an amused chuckle in the doorway. “I knocked, but you clearly didn’t hear it, for obvious reasons, I see. I cannot say I am particularly surprised to find you here, Lady Elisabeth” The Matchmaker said, watching them with a sort of pleased expression on her face.

“The feeling is, somehow, mutual, Lady Matchmaker,” Elisabeth replied mildly, as she took a discrete step away from Jasper, even as she felt very much like slamming the door in the older woman’s face.

Feeling similarly distressed, Jasper, keeping one of his hands entwined with Elisabeth’s said, “To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?”

“I told you something like this would happen, you worrywart, did I not?” the Matchmaker replied, ignoring his question entirely.

“You may have once or twice.”

“What?” Elisabeth said, startled.

“Well, since I clearly don’t need to yell at you again for being a ninny refusing to simply talk about your feelings, I will go see that the proper arrangements are made. Do try not to dawdle too long though. Your brother and that ridiculous pirate are causing some sort of ruckus with the crew of the Jiyel ship, Elisabeth, and it seems that taciturn duke is involved as well,” that Matchmaker turned to leave with a swish of her skirts.

“Wait, what?!” Elisabeth repeated, looking to Jasper in confusion. “What on earth did she mean? And oh, what has Noah done _now?!_ ”

“I don’t know what your brother has done, but the Matchmaker has gone to talk to the proper officials to inform them that you’ll be staying, I believe,” Jasper replied, once more claiming both her hands in his. “Are you certain this is what you want? There is still some time to change your mind.” _Please say yes!_

“I wouldn’t have sought you out if I weren’t. I want to stay, if you’ll have me.”

“It will be difficult. We may have the Matchmaker’s approval, but, well,” Jasper broke off with a sigh.

Elisabeth snorted. “In these few weeks, Jasper, when have I ever given the impression I cared one fig about such so called social niceties? I do not care what other people think, or who approves and who doesn’t. All I care about, the only person whose opinion I really value, is you.”

Jasper sighed, “You—you really are a wonder. I suppose I ought to be used to your forthrightness by now, but I find, yet again, that I am not.”

“It’s part of my charm,” Elisabeth replied glibly.

“And I love you for it.”

“Oh—oh!” Elisabeth could feel her face burning. “I love you too, for all your apparently not so lacking forthrightness,” she quipped.

Idly rubbing his thumb over her knuckles, Jasper said, “We should go find out what the Matchmaker was able to do, and see what trouble she mentioned.”

“A few more minutes can’t hurt, surely? As entertaining as watching my brother try to argue with her may be, I find that I have very little desire to go anywhere at the moment.”

“Is that so? Did you have a specific reason for that?”

Sidling closer, Elisabeth replied, “Well, before we were so rudely interrupted, I believe you were about to kiss me again.”

“Do you now?” Jasper replied, tenderly brushing a lock of hair back from Elisabeth’s face, letting his hand rest lightly against her cheek.

“Mmhmm,” she murmured, rising onto tiptoes to close the distance, resting her hands on his shoulders for balance, all in order to brush her lips to his in a featherlight kiss.

Jasper wrapped his arm around her, resting his free hand at the small of her back and gave her a slow, gentle kiss in return. Several more kisses followed, each one an attempt to put into words some of the feelings they both had harbored quietly for so long. With shaky, content sighs, they shared soft, nervous smiles and Jasper rested his forehead against hers. “We should go now.”

“You are right, as usual. I did say I wanted to say goodbye before Noah left,” Elisabeth replied, not wanting to move and wake up from the lovely dream she was sure she was having.

“We can go together, if you wish.”

Slipping a hand into one of Jasper’s, Elisabeth smiled up at him. “Always.” Hand in hand, they meandered the halls of the castle, ready to greet the changes and challenges they would have to face. Together.

**Author's Note:**

> The title is taken from Shakespeare's Sonnet 18, line 4: "And summer's lease hath all too short a date" (Sonnet 18 is the one that begins, "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?")  
> The line is saying summer is too short, much like the Summit, at least for Elisabeth's feelings and desires and purposes.


End file.
